Today's Features

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration was held Jan. 18 among many local African-American churches at the former Hillcrest Baptist Church building, now owned by MacMillian Ministries. The theme this year was “Fight On for Righteousness, Fight On for Justice, Fight on for Truth.”

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration was held Jan. 18 among many local African-American churches at the former Hillcrest Baptist Church building, now owned by MacMillian Ministries. The theme this year was “Fight On for Righteousness, Fight On for Justice, Fight on for Truth.”

The Glenwood Galax Church building, located on Coal Creek Road, dates back to around 1885. This is good for a sense of continuity and history, but bad for structural integrity: for years now, a downstairs wall has been in need of repair.

The building is still the original, said Glenwood member Mason Nester Sr. “I’ve heard there were several churches in there, including Quakers. I’m not sure if it was originally built as a Methodist church.”

E.W. Shupe, known affectionately as both “Dub” and “E.W.” to his friends, came home from work one Friday in 2003, feeling sick and feverish. He had just turned 21 and had a four-month-old daughter.

A week later, the Fries resident had bounced from Twin County Regional Hospital to the New River Valley Medical Center outside Radford and wound up in Roanoke, where he spent time in intensive care while physicians worked to figure out what was wrong with him.

He retired from Volvo Truck Corporation in Dublin. She is a dedicated wife and homemaker. They have two daughters and a son-in-law, Tina Carico of Galax and Lisa Carico Burnett and Stephen Burnett of Knoxville, Tenn. Their two grandchildren are Abigail and Aaron Burnett of Knoxville.
The couple will be honored and celebrated with a party given by their family.

Briley McKinley Marshall turned two on Dec. 10. His birthday was celebrated with a Paw Patrol party with friends and family.

He is the son of Joseph and Chrissy Marshall. His big sisters are Izzie and Cassie Marshall. His grandparents are Randy and Kim Bell and Dennis and Opie Marshall. His great-grandparents are M.C. and Irene Bell, the late Verna Liddle, O’Neal and O’Needa Terry, and the late Virgil and Patty Marshall.

A local couple put in countless hours of hard work to make Christmas more special for a less fortunate family this year.

For two months, John and Dorothy Frost, both in their 80s and without any children of their own, collected and shelled walnuts to sell in the area. After completing the daunting task, the couple was able to raise about $600 and decided they wanted to provide Christmas presents for some local children.

Chad Tate of Fries has used his artistic talents to bring a piece of “Star Wars” from a “galaxy far, far away” to Twin County Cinema III in Galax.

Tate built a 7-foot-tall scale model of an Imperial AT-AT (All-Terrain Armored Transport) from the original “Star Wars” films to celebrate the opening of the seventh film in the franchise, “The Force Awakens,” which opens this week.